Early Qing

  General Description   The Qing Dynasty (or Empire of the Great Qing, Great Qing, Manchu Dynasty, Manchus, Jin, Jurchens, Ch’ing Dynasty) was China’s last imperial dynasty. The founders of the Qing were descendants of Jurchen Jin rulers. The dynasty was founded by Nurhaci and then led by his son Huang Taiji, but did not become an imperial Chinese dynasty until after Huang Taiji’s death. ^[1] In 1644 CE, Qing forces captured the Ming capital at Beijing from rebels and held a funeral for the last Ming emperor to symbolize Qing inheritance of the Mandate of Heaven. ^[2]
The Qing faced conflict with rebels and loyalist Ming forces for the next two decades. ^[1] Ming generals who surrendered were given power over large territories in southern China in exchange for loyalty to the Qing. In 1673 CE, leaders from three major southern feudatories led by Wu Sangui rebelled against Emperor Kangxi when he tried to reduce their power. ^[3] The Revolt of the Three Feudatories, as this episode is known, lasted eight years.
We divide the Qing Dynasty into two, an Early period (1644-1796 CE) and a Late period (1796-1912 CE). The division is marked by a period of internal turmoil as well as foreign incursions into its territory and economic sphere. In the Early Qing period, China had been prosperous under Kangxi and Qing rule, but by the time of the Opium Wars in the Late Qing, Western technology and industry had surpassed that of China. ^[4] The fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1911 gave rise to the Republic of China.
Population and political organization
The Qing ruled over an expansive empire, and its bureaucracy was more efficient than that of previous periods. ^[5] Qing rulers adopted the Chinese bureaucratic system first used in the Han and Tang Dynasties. ^[6] Before conquering the Ming, the Qing managed its population through a system of hereditary military organizations called the Eight Banners. ^[7] These became part of the administrative structure of the Qing Dynasty and were only open to those of Manchu descent. ^[7] In the later Qing period, however, the Eight Banners lost some of their political functions and served to enhance the prestige of the top Qing nobility. ^[8]
The central government was headed by the emperor and included a ’Grand Council’, created by the Yongzheng emperor and expanded by the Qianlong emperor. ^[9] The Grand Council ruled over the central ministries and provided a way for the emperor to circumvent the official bureaucracy for many decisions. ^[9]
The Qing provincial government consisted of governors who controlled a hierarchical system of officials, prefects, county chiefs, country magistrates, and clerks. ^[10] In the early Qing years, provinces were ruled by high ranking officials who were typically of Manchu descent. ^[11]
The territory of the Qing empire was more than double that of the Ming. ^[5] Tibetans, Uighurs, Muslims, a number of Mongol groups, Burmese, Thais, and indigenous Taiwanese were incorporated into the Chinese empire. ^[5]
Three Qing emperors - Kangxi (1662-1722 CE), Yongzheng (1723-1735 CE), and Qianlong (1736-1795 CE) - are historically known as great rulers. During their reigns, China was extremely prosperous. ^[12] Qianlong is famous for leading ten military expeditions, including campaigns in Taiwan, Burma, Vietnam and Nepal. ^[12]
Based on Chinese census and registration counts, the population of China in 1749 CE was about 177.5 million. ^[13] The following century was one of extremely rapid population growth, and by 1851 the population had reached 431.9 million people. ^[14] Historian James Z. Gao writes that the area within the Qing court’s ’sphere of influence’ at its peak was 13.1 million square kilometres’. ^[15]
While the Qing period is not well known for poetry, painting and porcelain as previous periods are, print journalism, theatre and novels flourished under the Qing emperors. ^[16]

[1]: (San 2014, 337-38) Tan Koon San. 2014. Dynastic China: An Elementary History. Malaysia: The Other Press Sdn. Bhd.

[2]: (San 2014, 338) Tan Koon San. 2014. Dynastic China: An Elementary History. Malaysia: The Other Press Sdn. Bhd.

[3]: (San 2014, 385) Tan Koon San. 2014. Dynastic China: An Elementary History. Malaysia: The Other Press Sdn. Bhd.

[4]: (Mao 2005, 8) Haijin Mao. 2005. The Qing Empire and the Opium War: The Collapse of the Heavenly Dynasty. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[5]: (Rowe 2009, 1) William T. Rowe. 2009. China’s Last Empire: The Great Qing. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

[6]: (Theobald 2000) Theobald Ulrich. 2000. ’Qing Dynasty Government, Administration and Law’. Chinaknowledge.de. http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Qing/qing-admin.html. Accessed 21 March 2017.

[7]: (Elliot 2011, 39) Mark C. Elliot. 2001. The Manchu Way. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

[8]: (Elliot 2011, 40) Mark C. Elliot. 2001. The Manchu Way. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

[9]: (Lorge 2005, 173) Peter Lorge. 2005. War, Politics and Society in Early Modern China, 900-1795. London: Routledge.

[10]: (Zhang 2011, 63) Wei-Bin Zhang. 2011. The Rise and Fall of China’s Last Dynasty: The Deepening of the Chinese Servility. Hauppage, NY: Nova Science Publishers.

[11]: (Hsu 2006, 415) Cho-yun Hsu. 2006. China: A New Cultural History. New York: Columbia University Press.

[12]: (Theobald 2000) Theobald Ulrich. 2000. ’Qing Period Event History’. Chinaknowledge.de. http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Qing/qing-event.html. Accessed 21 March 2017.

[13]: (Banister 1987, 4) Judith Banister. 1987. China’s Changing Population. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

[14]: (Banister 1987, 3-4) Judith Banister. 1987. China’s Changing Population. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

[15]: (Gao 2009, xxxvi) James Z. Gao. 2009. Historical Dictionary of Modern China (1800-1949). Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press.

[16]: (Rowe 2009, 2) William T. Rowe. 2009. China’s Last Empire: The Great Qing. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.